


Melting Under Pink Skies

by scumfuck



Category: IT 2017
Genre: M/M, Reddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 23:48:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13728600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scumfuck/pseuds/scumfuck
Summary: Richie ""accidentally"" falls in love with Eddie.





	Melting Under Pink Skies

"Get off me! Richie, stop!" Eddie giggled loudly as Richie tackled him to the ground, tickling him into the grass. They'd laid out a picnic with the rest of the losers club, just next to the quarry. They hadn't done it in years, and Richie was beyond excited to be with everyone at once.

  
Eddie's legs kicked up as he laughed, and Richie dug his fingers into the parts where it tickled the most, and he felt like a child. "Surrender! Surrender or die!" Richie yelled through laughs.

  
Eddie continued to burst into screeching laughter. "Okay! Okay! I surrender," he shrieked back. His hands were gripping around Richie's wrists and he stopped all of his movements. Eddie was panting and staring up at the boy, breathless. Richie didn't move as he gazed into the honey eyes.

  
Until someone behind them spoke. "Are you two done now?" It was Stan's monotone voice. Richie ripped away from him, trying on a bright grin. His tooth gap was obvious as he did so, and he walked over to where the rest of their friends were sitting, leaving Eddie in the grass. When he glanced back, Eddie lay there, his hands curled over his stomach and a ghost of a smile on his lips as he stared at the sky.

  
Richie quickly tore his eyes away and focused on his friends. "What'd we bring?" he asked enthusiastically, nodding at the baskets in Beverly's hand as she settled onto their blanket.

  
"I brought sandwiches and fruit. And hot Cheetos," she answered. Stan began to neatly lay out the food. Richie felt Eddie sit down next to him. He tried to scoot away, but Mike was right next to him, and he was stuck. He kept his mouth shut and stared at the food.

  
"Is that okay with you, Richie?" Stan asked, giving him an irritable look.  
Richie grinned back, albeit a little artificially. "'Course it is! A very fine composure on your behalf, Ms. Marsh."

  
Beverly winked at him, all blue eyes and dark mascara. "I'm always a call away, Tozier."

  
Eddie leaned forward and grabbed an apple from the pile, biting into it with a crunch. Ben turned on a radio to a local station. Richie always used to complain that they played too much disco on it ("Disco sucks! Who the fuck still listens to disco? It's 1993, for Christ's sake!"), but after filing one too many complaints, it started to play more recent music.

  
Everyone settled in and began to eat. After a while of conversing, Beverly stood and stretched, before unbuttoning her blouse. She grinned mischeviously down at the boys. Miraculously, she still managed to marvel them. Even Eddie, who used to confess to Richie that, "although I would never kiss her, I think she's the prettiest girl I've ever seen." Richie wholeheartedly agreed. Beverly reached down to pull up Ben and the two ran off the bank and slowly waded into the water. Next was Bill, and then Mike, who dragged a reluctant Stan along with. Richie just smiled and watched them splash in the water.

  
"Why aren't you going?" Eddie asked with a small voice, as if it was jjust between the two of them.

  
Richie turned back to him. He had tiny blades of grass and a flower tangled in his hair. His knees were pulled up and his chin rested on the top of them. Richie remembered the one time he accidentally pushed Eddie too fast down a slide when they were little and scraped his knee. He had to reapply a Superman band-aid every hour the rest of that day. Eddie never told his mom it was Richie's fault, either.

  
He almost forgot to answer. "I dunno. Don't feel like getting wet." He ruffled his curls, which sat in a mop upon his head.

"I got a mane going here, Eds. Too much water makes it frizzy."

  
Eddie's lips twisted upwards. "That's never stopped you before."

  
Richie didn't reply. He continued to watch as Beverly dunked Mike underneath the cool lake water. The sun was bright above them. It was probably going to give him sunburn at some point.

  
"Is everything... Okay, Richie?" Eddie finally whispered. Richie screwed his eyes close. "There's nothing you want to tell me?"

  
Richie blinked his eyes open. Eddie was closer now, his eyes wide and brown. His cheeks were already tinted pink from the sun, and the freckles on his cheeks were darker than they were in the morning.

  
Why _was_ he acting different? Richie couldn't pinpoint it onto one thing. Everything was fine at home. School was fine. But maybe it was something else. He tried to think about it. It came to a point where he couldn't stop thinking.  
He felt a hand atop his. "Richie?" Eddie's voice was soft and knowing. And there it was- the feeling he'd gotten before, when he was staring at Eddie. It made his stomach and chest tighten, but at the same time, it felt like he was going to explode. His ears grew hot and the tips of his fingers tingled.

  
"I'm fine," Richie said. "Really, I'm okay."  
Eddie's eyebrows turned together, and he frowned. But he nodded, understanding.

"I'm always here if you need to talk. You know that, right?"

  
Richie plastered a smile on his face again. "Yeah, Eddie. 'Course."

  
A scream from the quarry cut between the two of them. "Hey assholes! You comin' or what?" Beverly screeched.

* * *

  
After that day, Richie couldn't stop feeling that feeling. Every time he thought about a boy with freckles and pretty brown eyes and blushed cheeks, his heart swelled.

  
Today, they were all watching a movie at Bill's house. Richie was laying on the couch, his legs over Bill's, and his head resting on Eddie's lap. Eddie was the only one without a popcorn bowl with them; That was his excuse. They were watching Nightmare on Elm Street.

  
"Th-the one wih-with Johnny Duh-Depp," Bill told them as he slid in the DVD.

  
Beverly whooped at that. "He looks so good in this," she gushed to Eddie, as if he was the only one who understood having boy crushes. Richie didn't know why he was mad about that.

  
Richie understood what she meant when Johnny Depp appeared on screen.

  
"God, isn't he just a heartthrob?" She said. Stan shushed her, but Eddie nodded above Richie. Richie watched him.

  
"He looks even better here than in Cry-Baby," Eddie whispered.

  
Bev nodded, silently agreeing.

  
The movie went on to the scene where his character dies. Richie almost gasped at it. Johnny Depp was wearing a crop top- _Jesus Christ, a crop top_! And Richie felt his heart rate go up. Why did that make his heart rate go up? Boys weren't supposed to make his heart rate go up.

  
"God damn," he whispered. Then, Richie felt a hand in his hair.Soft fingers started to wrap around his curls, combing through them gently. Richie blinked and tried to focus on the movie. But Eddie's hands kept touching his hair, and it started to pull curls out of his face.  
He felt like his heart was going into overdrive, or something. Because when Depp's character got sucked into the bed, it must've scare Eddie, and he jumped, accidentally pulling Richie's hair.

  
"Shit, sorry!" Eddie held Richie's cheek and turned him to look at him. Richie's eyes were wide behind his glasses, wider than usual.

  
"It's uh- It's okay," he murmured, blinking dark eyes at the boy.

  
His gut tightened into a harsh knot in the pit of his stomach as he stared up at the boy. The glow of the television in the dark cast a blue-ish light over his features. He looked almost electric.

  
Eddie laughed a little at Richie's open mouthed stare. Stan shushed them again. Then, Eddie patted Richie's red cheek and turned his head back towards the television set, one hand still in his hair. Richie swallowed heavily and willed himself to stop thinking and pay attention to the movie.

* * *

  
They were all sitting on the top of Mike's barn. It was nearing the end of summer, and the sun was setting into the sky. The clouds were pink and white and orange, and Richie was sipping from an old Coke bottle.

  
Eddie climbed up with two cones of strawberry ice cream. He used to do this when him and Richie were younger- he'd get them both a cone whenever they were in town.

  
Richie took the ice cream happily and passed his bottle to Beverly, who was lighting a cigarette. Richie kept quiet as he licked at the cone. He felt Eddie's stare on him.

  
Bill and Mike were arguing over whether Tupac or Biggie would win in a fistfight; Stan and Ben were talking about their classes for the upcoming year; And Beverly was half asleep, alternating between drinking the Coke and smoking.

  
And Eddie was staring at him.

  
He could feel it, on the side of his face, as he tried desperately to look up at the sky, or the trees, or anywhere but Eddie.

  
"Hey Richie?" Eddie asked. Richie's head turned to face him.

  
"Yeah?"

  
Eddie bit his lip. "Can we go for a walk?"

  
Richie nodded, his curls bouncing, and made way to climb off the roof. Eddie followed soon after, jumping off with a huff. He was wearing shorts, even though it was getting later and the atmosphere wasn't as hot as it should have been in summer. Richie tried not to look at him, and Eddie gestured for Richie to follow him into the woods.

  
"We haven't talked in weeks," Eddie said finally, as if he'd been holding it in. His eyes were concerned and upset at the same time, as if Richie had just told him terrible news.

  
"Sorry," Richie replied. He rubbed his face with his hand, tiredly.   
Eddie stepped closer to him as they walked farther into the wooded area.

"What's up? Seriously. You've been acting so weird lately- I mean, you haven't made a your mom joke since July, and that's a long time to go, don't you think?"

Richie shrugged and kicked a stick on the ground. The trees became sparse as they entered a small opening in the woods. Eddie sat on a fallen tree. Richie sat next to him, and his leg immediately bounced. 

His thoughts were running wild, into each other like headless chickens. What was wrong with him? Did he have feelings for Eddie? He couldn't. He couldn't have feelings for Eddie- they were friends! And Richie wasn't gay, was he? No, he liked girls. He fucking loved girls... But there had to be some boys he liked too, right? Like, David Bowie. He swung both ways. Why couldn't Richie? No, Richie could definitely swing both ways, but with Eddie? He had no idea. He really didn't. 

"Everything's alright at home, right?" Eddie's voice was gentle and calm, right beside him. Richie sat up and looked straight ahead. 

"Everything's fine at home," he assured. "I would tell you if it wasn't." 

Eddie nodded and nudged a little closer to Richie on the log. And Richie wanted him to. _Please come closer, I want to hold your hand, I want to talk to you, I like you so so so much-_

 _I think I love you_. Was that it? Was that what he was feeling? He didn't know a thing about love. But it would make sense. Why he felt like his cheeks went hot every time Eddie was around him and his heart hit violently against his chest. 

Eddie reached over to hold the hand in his lap. "Is this alright?" he whispered. Richie didn't know why he was whispering. No one else was around them. 

Richie turned his hand over, palm up, and let Eddie's hand mold into his like they were made for each other. That was a weird feeling. His fingertips were tingling again, like the blood beneath his skin was bubbling, almost. When he looked up, Eddie's eyes were watching over him carefully, studying him with a loving tone to them. Richie took a shaky breath in.

"I think I um-" He laughed to himself. Not as if it was funny, but he was anxious. He didn't know what he was doing, if he was being honest.

"You what?" Eddie asked. Strands of hair had fallen onto his forehead and Richie wanted to brush them back.

Richie gulped and closed his eyes. "I think I accidentally sort of fell in love with you," he rushed out. 

He didn't open his eyes, but Eddie's hand tensed in his. Richie felt like his entire body went cold, until he felt a warm press against his lips. It sent tiny electric shocks that warmed his body. A blush bloomed onto his cheeks and spread to his ears and neck hotly. 

The kiss was soft and tasted of their strawberry ice cream. Richie gasped when Eddie pulled back and leaned his forehead against the other's.

"I think I fell in love with you, too," Eddie breathed out, and Richie felt it on his lips. When Richie opened his eyes, he could count every freckle on his nose and every eyelash that fell gently onto his cheek. 

He smiled and suddenly, everything in the world felt a little brighter at that point in time. It was as if the sun came back up and was shining over them again. 

 _I'm in love_ , Richie said to himself. _I'm in love._

 _Holy shit. I'm in fucking love_.

 

 


End file.
